Unseen
by RiaKitsuneYoukai
Summary: The tiniest, most unnoticed hands can do big things. -Taang; a gift for Zekestar-


"Toph, you cheated!"

The girl continued to laugh manically as she fought to catch her breath -- the effect was likely dangerous, leading her close to hyperventilation. But she calmed her giggles and brought her lungs some peace, then stood to grin at her friend. He wasn't doubled over, as she had been, but somehow she wasn't surprised; the boy had lung capacity to rival a whale's. He stood with his hands against his hips, breathing deeply in and out of his nose and mouth, and rubbed back the nonexistent hair on his tattooed head.

"You cheated," he repeated, but she shrugged him off. Aang scowled as she reached into her tunic and pulled a caterpillar-worm from above her belt. She held it out to him between two of her earth-stained fingers. She didn't say anything, but didn't have to, either, as the bet had been settled before their race. "You tripped me, Toph. I'm not gonna eat it."

"We shook on it, Twinkles, c'mon. Show some guts." She wiggled the small creature and the boy made a face at the way it reacted; writhing and crunching together in a small loop. He held out his palm and he took hold of the worm, staring at it for a long while. The young woman beside him shifted her weight impatiently.

"It's alive, Toph. I'm not going to eat something living."

She sighed -- "Fine." -- and snatched the creature back, then laid it on the ground. She lifted her foot high and let it fall; Aang threw his shin sideways in the path before her heel could squash the bug.

"_Toph_!" he scolded, his voice cracking for a moment (she snorted inwardly and resisted making yet another comment about his growth spurts). The boy bent and pulled the caterpillar-worm out of her reach, using his free hand to rub at his now very sore leg. She rolled her eyes; the simplest apology he would get, unorthodox as it was. The girl bent toward the ground and he flinched, fearing she would attempt to kill the worm again. Instead she snatched a handful of dry, crumbling earth, and picked through it with her other hand. He watched, curious, until she thrust her hand forward and he had to again accept what she was offering.

"Eat that, then."

Aang groaned, and she grinned in her playful, malicious way -- she had given him a rock. Covered in light brown dust, no less. He shrugged, muttered a quick curse, tilted his head back, and swallowed the lump of earth. His companion snickered at it's entire slow trip down his throat. He coughed a few times to rid himself of the taste and feeling, then sighed. "That's going to hurt coming out."

Toph laughed the entire way into the market.

----

"Three copper pieces, miss."

The earthbender fished out a few coins from the sack in her belt and placed them in the vendor's hands, then snatched up the packaged meat, adding it to the pile of other assorted goods she had been sent out to find; a small bag of nuts, another of red spice, and a thick rope tied around four large watermelon that dangled from her wrist (her arms ached from the weight, but she ignored it). She began her walk back to the fountain in the middle of the market, hoping Aang had finished his shopping as well -- he had bought most of the fruit, including tangerines, which she smiled at the idea of; she wasn't much for the taste or texture, but the smell and the memory of the way her airbending student had once peeled one for her made her grin.

She shuffled past the hurried shoppers, taking in the faint feelings of their heartbeats and noting the groups of bodies huddled in the spaces between houses; Toph frowned at them. She very much wanted to show them charity and relieve herself of the heavy food to their empty stomachs, but couldn't -- firstly, Sokka would kill her for giving away his requested meat, and there were just too many homeless to feed. She scowled, wondering what kind of hands the city had been passed into.

She was conveniently in time to sit on the fountain edge, as a huge mob of forms shuffled by just after she had sat down, across the line she had used to get there. The earthbender dropped down her wears -- the melons a little softer than the rest -- and settled herself on the rim of the pool, her feet spread far apart and resting flat on the hard stones of the community center. She waited, picking at her fingernails, pausing only when she felt the small steps of a child next to her.

"Umm... s'cuse me?" The small person appeared to be talking to her, so Toph responded; "Yeah?"

The child shifted from foot to foot quickly, his eyes staying off hers (not that it would have mattered). "I was wondering if... you would..." he took a deep breath and blurted out the rest in a very quick sentence, "if you would be willing to give me some money or food to help my sick mom!"

Toph sat very still, her arms lightly crossed, her face emotionless. She could feel the little boy's heart pounding quick as any rabbitvole's could, and it wasn't only from nerves. His hands kept slipping from each other as he grabbed fingers behind his back. He was lying.

"Where's your mom?" she asked softly; the kind of softness her family would probably never get the pleasure of hearing. The boy opened and closed his mouth a few times like a gasping koifish before answering.

"At... my house. She sent me to... for food."

"She sent you without money? Your mom asked you to go into the city alone to beg for food?"

He wasn't able to retort; Toph sighed sadly. She was poking awfully big holes in his explanation. She leaned forward onto her knees and tilted her head toward the child, who swiveled his hips back and forth in a terrified wait. His hands kept slipping behind him -- she could feel the sudden jolts every time they fell.

"You're homeless. Am I right, kiddo?"

The boy froze, then nodded, his breath choking as his eyes fell to the ground once again. Toph leaned her neck back, scratching underneath her large bun. She wasn't sure what was convincing her -- maybe it was the butterfly-like beat of the child's heart, or the gentle, high-pitched voice he had -- but this was going to take some explaining. Her family might not be as quickly accepting of the kid.

"Want to stay with me and my friends for a bit? We're not going to be in the city long, but my friend Katara makes good soup, and you look like you could use something filling." The boy's head shot up, staring. "I'm sure we've got some extra blankets around."

"You mean it?" he whispered, his voice hoarse. Toph smiled lopsidedly at him.

"I wouldn't be offering it if I weren't." She stood, grabbing up the string of watermelon. The child, in his fit of overwhelming excitement, seemed eager to help; he snatched the smaller bags of spice and nuts, then looked up at her expectantly. "Come on, kid. We've got to find someone before we can get home."

----

Aang had to do a double-take before he recognized his earthbending teacher. She really looked no different -- pale skin, small bones, green dress -- save for the black-haired child resting on her hip. He gaped, watching her speak to the little one, her voice gentle and steps balanced, as though she had been carrying him her entire life. A small bundle of melons hung from her free hand; the other propped up the child, who was holding the rest of their supplies carefully. Nearly dropping his food in surprise, the airbender pointed.

"Toph. You have a baby on you."

She stared at him -- through him -- with her classic 'what are you, stupid?' expression, and said, "Yes, Twinkles. There's a kid on me. Thanks for pointing that very obvious fact out." She then turned to the child, who had his arm looped around her neck, and added softly, "This is my very silly friend Aang. I prefer calling him 'Twinkle Toes' because he walks funny."

Aang frowned, both at her comment and at the situation. "Umm... am I going to get an explanation about all this?"

She looked up at him again, but her expression was tired, slightly confused. "Later," was all she said. He judged her for a few moments, then quietly picked up his bags and moved in step beside her.

They walked home in silence.

----

"I just... don't get it. What would convince Toph, of all people, to bring a little boy home off the street?"

She heard the tired sighs of both Katara and Aang, both conversing in the next room; the older girl was pacing, tragically confused by her sister's sudden act of goodwill. Toph shifted again, cracking the top of her spine against the stone wall. She listened to the two wonder aloud, her pale eyes unaffected by the slight beam of light the the ajar door bled to her.

"I don't know, Katara. Maybe she just felt bad for the kid."

Toph tilted her head down, taking in with every sense the small child curled up against her. She was stiff against the stone floor and vertical backrest, but dared not move away. Koji, the young boy she had adopted into their little family temporarily, still smelled of the spice soup. He was very warm against her, and his breathing was somehow very calming; she hesitantly ran the back of her hand against his hair, catching slightly against the ponytail that had long since failed its purpose. When he didn't react, she repeated the motion, enjoying the feel of the little one's soft head -- she wondered if this was what it was like to have a younger brother. Or, perhaps, a child of her own.

Katara, outside, gave a frustrated groan and told her friend she was going to bed; "I'm getting a headache from this." Aang nodded and said he would do the same. He waited for the older girl to leave, then stood, stretching his legs, and slipped into the room Toph was habiting.

"Hey," she greeted, and he jumped.

"Oh... you're... still awake."

"Mmhhmmm."

He deflated suddenly. "You heard all of that, didn't you?"

"Yup." The child against her stomach squirmed slightly and his fist clenched hold of one of her fingers. Aang's breathing was dull as he shifted over to her, apologizing. He placed himself in front of her, legs crossed, and watched as she lightly brushed the child's hair again, her eyes soft.

"So... why did you take him in? There are plenty of homeless kids out there."

Toph shrugged, rubbing her thumb against the knuckle of Koji's hand. Her free hand shifted and took hold of the adolescent's, their palms touching, and she held them up for her friend to see. Her focus stayed on the child as she muttered, "He's so... little."

The airbender before her tilted his head, his moon eyes curious. She was never like this. Actions like this were solely Katara's; the motherly instinct always seemed to be repelled from Toph's small, strong frame. But somehow she seemed so easygoing with the child resting against her, it's small fingers grasping at hers in reaction to a dream. Like she had been around this sort of thing since birth.

"He was really brave to come up to me and lie like that. Thing is, he wasn't lying to be mean, and I'm not even sure he was asking for food for himself."

Aang nodded. He reached out tentatively and laid his thick fingers over the two sets of smaller ones. Toph's twitched under his, holding the child's carefully. "He was just... I don't know. I felt horrible for him, you know? He didn't choose to be poor, and he didn't choose to lose his parents, and he had no choice but to beg for money or steal..." she sighed, freeing a hand to brush the little one's hair again; her other palm stayed wrapped between two pairs, one bigger and one not, "He chose to ask rather than take... that makes him braver, I guess. I'm proud of him for that."

"What are we going to do with him, though?" Aang spoke for the first in a long while, his voice low, "We can't bring him with us."

His friend sighed. "I know." Her eyes rose to meet his for the first time, but the emotion came from her voice: "Isn't there someone who would take care of him? He's not old enough to be by himself."

"He's that important to you." It was hardly a question.

"...yeah."

"We'll find somewhere, then. Even if we have to bring him along on Appa for a bit. We'll find him a family."

Toph smiled lightly, but it faded as she rubbed over the Koji's knuckle again. She hardly moved when Aang asked what was wrong. "He's only one. There're way too many people out in that city who can't take care of themselves, Aang. He's just one kid."

"So am I," the Avatar said softly, "But I made a difference. I needed help, but once I found it, I did lots of big things. Who says this kid can't?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Okay! Can we say... 'out of character and schizophrenic scenes'? We can? OH GOOD.  
This was an idea that Zekestar and I had. But as I wrote, the story got farther and farther from what it was originally going to be. But the intent, I hope, sort of stayed the same.  
(By the way, who caught the bathroom joke? Sorry about that, but it's a well-known fact that the Avatarverse has a thing about bathroom jokes. 'Sides, it was too much fun not to put in.)


End file.
